The present invention relates to human powered vehicles of the foot-pedal type, and also to mechanisms particularly useful in such vehicles.
Many proposals have been made for vehicles which could be propelled solely by the power of the occupant or occupants, but which provide greater stability, comfort, convenience and speed than does the conventional bicycle or tricycle. Examples of some of the proposed designs are illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,920,263 and 4,410,198. The demand for such a human powered vehicle has substantially increased during recent years with the increase in the price of fuel for the conventional motor vehicle caused by the limited fuel resources, but still no human powered vehicle of the foregoing type has yet come into widespread use.
An object of the present invention is to provide a human powered vehicle providing a number of advantages over those heretofore proposed. A further object of the invention is to provide various mechnisms of novel design particularly useful in human powered vehicles.